The concept of organic evolution is central to an understanding of modern biology and is essential to the work of the biologist. Natural selection appears to be the chief mechanism of evolutionary change. It is generally regarded by biologists as the process that has brought into being the myriad life forms that populate our planet, and that gave rise to man himself. Thus, it would be highly advantageous for all to understand the concept of natural selection. Unfortunately, traditional methods of biology teaching and resistance to the teaching of evolution, which persists even today, have inhibited understanding of this simple, but important, biological phenomenon first articulated by Charles Darwin in his Origin of Species over one hundred years ago.
In the present world context, with exploding human populations and environmental deterioration, it is important that large numbers of people come to see the world in evolutionary perspective. We must see ourselves as part of a changing and complex living fabric, the laws of which are neither for nor against us, but by which we must live if civilization is to endure. Our anthropocentrism must give way to a more inclusive view of nature.
The factors involved in natural selection have been summarized by Huxley (1966) as follows: (1) All organisms show considerable variation; (2) much of this variation is inherited; (3) in domesticated animals and plants, man is able to take advantage of inherited variation and produce new and useful types by artificial selection; (4) in nature, all organisms produce more offspring than can survive; (5) accordingly, not all the offspring will be able to survive or to reproduce; (6) some variants have a better chance of surviving or reproducing than others; (7) the result of this is natural selection--the differential survival or reproduction of favored variants; and this, given sufficient time, can gradually transform species and can produce both detailed adaptation in single species, and the large-scale, long-term improvement of types.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide certain novel simulations of the mechanism of natural selection and a number of evolutionary phenomena as a demonstrating procedure serving as an aid in the understanding of this subject.
It is also an object of this invention to provide novel means for carrying out the demonstrations of this invention.